Ok so I love old style American diner comfort food. And this place has lots of that. I'm not big on foofy food with weird combinations of ingredients and that sticks to current food trends. If you want nice service, good home style food (with reasonable prices). I'm happy to come here on a regular basis and so are a lot of other folks judging by how full the place gets on a regular basis read more

Oh yes this was a lovely change from cooking breakfast for me! Kids were just wanting to go out. Greeted with smiles...yes I know they were smiling behind the masks! Food was good, service was impeccable, and the place was spotless. They've really gone the extra distance to make everyone safe yet comfortable. The food was just amazing, service was amazing. I'm not sure what's going on there now since they're in California and I know there's another lockdown going on. If they're open, head there, if not make sure they're high up on your list as soon as they're open again. read more

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Very good service and great food at this restaurant. They are known for their breakfast and lunch service but they are also open for dinner. They also have a great selection of muffins for breakfast and they are definitely popular among the local residents. read more

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Good local eatery. Nice old fashioned diner. Got seated right away but the wait service was a bit slow. The beef barley soup was delicious with lots of yummy pieces of beef. I ordered the fish and chips with baked potato and fresh veggies. The portions were quite large. It was diner type food and no special sauces added. The ranch steak wasn't really a good cut of meat. The potatoes and gravy were good. You also got to try free ice cream or tapioca. May come back again to try other dishes. read more

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Great food and the staff is very friendly. We go here for breakfast all the time. Love me some waffles!!! Always busy, cause it's good.

OK, I have to admit I am a sucker to find a place that all the regulars go to. And I think I found the place in Arroyo Grande. I've been seeing CJ's for a while now. It looks a little bit rundown on the outside, but there's always cars there. So I figured I'd finally try it out. I think I got the last parking spot. I walked into the restaurant, and the only spots to sit were at the counter. Every table was in use. I thought to myself, Self, this could be a good find. I wasn't wrong. I watched as the waitt staff took orders cheerfully and made sure that everyone's order was to their satisfaction. I usually read a book if I'm in a restaurant by myself. Today was no different. But I still noticed things. The dishes coming out of the kitchen, were all hot and delivered quickly to the tables. I saw a lot of conversation between the Waitt staff and the customers. I know and understand why this is a popular place. It's not fancy, it's not dressy, it's not over the top. It's the kind of food that you got back in "the day ". and personally I'll be back. Next time, my husband's going with me. :-) By the way, I did order the grilled chicken Florentine sandwich. I could barely eat a third of my fries if even that. But they were hot and fresh. Hope you try the restaurant and you like it too. read more

CJ's Cafe - My very delish grilled chicken Florentine sandwich with extra crispy fries. - American Near Me - Arroyo Grande, California

Decided to try CJ's Cafe for breakfast as I love good cafe food- We were seated right away. Looking around it appeared as a general diner restaurant. Nothing special really stood out, except the waitress who had a big friendly smile! Well this breakfast was mediocre. Not bad but not over the moon tasty. I would have enjoyed it more if the food was hot not just warm, if the hash browns had been cooked more to get a good crisp and if the sausages had been cooked a lot less, they were a bit shriveled and dry. They looked like farmer John's sausage. My scrambled eggs were more on the cold side and overcooked. My son had the Cattaneo Bros. pork linguica which he seemingly enjoyed as well as his muffin. I might give this place another chance in the future as perhaps it was an off day being that it was a Wednesday- read more

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It is always full for a reason. Families, and friends gather to eat in groups. Seniors sit alone or come with their partners...Just make sure everyone is there before you enter to be seated. The food is really good, some waitresses have been there for a long time and know the customers by name. It is a very good environment with great value for your money. I recommend it because I attend it (often)! read more

The food is good. The service is done with a smile and attentive. It is a cafe. It is clean and well done. A veggie omelette is a real veggie omelette. read more

CJ's Cafe - Veggie omelette with broccoli, zucchini, yellow squash, and spinach. - American Near Me - Arroyo Grande, California

Great food - feels like home cooking, comfort food. Lovely family atmosphere. The restaurant has a casual, diner atmosphere. I wish they would stay open a little longer. read more

Best secret in Arroyo Grande! Great food and great service. Love this mom and pop restaurant..........

My husband and I are remodeling our kitchen. So now going out more for a later afternoon lunch/dinner. CJ's has Early Bird dinners from 2 to 5 pm. It comes with soup or salad, baked potato, mashed and other options, plus dessert. You can't beat it. The food was delicious. My husband ordered the pork loin and I ordered the turkey breast. CJs does a nice job! You can't get any better! The servers are friendly and efficient. They work hard and want to please their customers. We will probably be back every week! No pics as the food looked too good and I was too hungry to wait! :-) read more

What a lovely little diner in such a quaint little area near the beaches! Also convenient if you're staying at the little motel next door, which we did and we'll likely do it from now on, because it's like you have this restaurant inside the motel. Literally a few steps away. The service was beyond stellar, and the quality of food just that - delicious hot & tasty food that you would hope your mother would make when you lived at home. And I have to say all three times are the best & I'm a diehard breakfast fan, but the expectations were met for dinner as well as lunch. It does get full so try to go before popular times, but it seems to be always accommodating. It's a cute diner, ran efficiently, typical diner decor that's contemporary not dinky or outdated with tacky decorations just simplicity and clean. Lots of parking too. Can't wait to go back. read more

I came here for dinner one night after driving around looking for a place to eat. I've always seen CJ's but I never thought about trying them out. We got here probably an hour or so before closing, but it was still buzzin with people. I ordered a burger with blue cheese, some mozzarella sticks and onion and rings and I have to say, it was de-licious! The value for the food is great. The onion rings were homemade, and I think the ranch was too. It was one of the best I've had in a while. The service was superb! Everyone was so attentive and kind. Then I wanted to try their breakfast. So here I am, writing this review waiting for my breakfast - I ordered a pancake breakfast and I'm so excited to try it. read more

Nice place for breakfast. Great combos. Not to noisy even though it was busy. Worth returning. read more

CJ's Cafe - We beat the crowds. - American Near Me - Arroyo Grande, California

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I took my family to CJ's café for the early bird dinner, and couldn't have been more pleased. All three of the young people were happy as well. The youngest of them, in high school, is doing a lot of growing and needs to have a big meal as soon as he gets out of school in the afternoon. The restaurant was clean and had cute decor. They serve beer and wine, and have a solid selection of American diner offerings. The waitress was fabulous as well as her assisting staff. Drinks were kept full, plates were kept cleared, and there was no shortage of attention to whatever we might need. I highly recommend CJ's Café. I have not been there for several years and I'm hoping that I will make this part of our regular routine. Very affordable early bird dinner. Steak, baked potato, salad, cheese, toast, vegetables that were beautiful and nutritious. Even included dessert! This was only $15. Just like the waitress said, CJ's is the place to be between 2 and 5 PM. read more

Very good old school diner. French toast platter with bacon(2) & 2eggs was very good and reasonable price. Wife had chicken wrap also good. Granddaughter had chocolate chip pancakes, short stack (2 big) she liked. Plenty of seating and excellent service. Really rate 4.5 to 5 stars. Will return. read more

Breakfast at CJ's Cafe is a good food experience. I had the B&G Breakfast and my husband has the Oatmeal. Both were excellent choices. The biscuits were fluffy and moist. They gravy was not salty and just perfect for the biscuit. The scrambled eggs were cooked perfectly. The oatmeal was tasty and delicious. Perfect with milk, brown sugar and raisins. Generous portions too. Highly recommended for a place to eat when you are in town. read more

CJ's Cafe - B&G Breakfast with bacon and scrambled eggs - American Near Me - Arroyo Grande, California

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Great food - both inside and take out. I love their breakfasts but the 2-5 turkey special was amazing! Salad, turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy and dessert was all fabulous! read more

My mom took me here one time while I was staying with her. She told me about this little cafe that had the best home made muffins and breakfast. It's like an old country cafe, super cute and local. They have some of the best home made salsa and muffin Iv ever tasted. I made it a tradition to buy 4 muffins before I leave town. The best ones are the pineapple coconut muffins. They don't disappoint. Super fluffy soft and buttery. The service is fast and super nice. I'll continue to go to this place just for the muffs lol ‍ read more

CJ's Cafe - Pineapple coconut muffins - American Near Me - Arroyo Grande, California

Fast and friendly service, great location and far enough away from the crowds of Pismo beach. The kids absolutely destroyed their breakfast plates and the homemade apple cinnamon muffin was amazing! We will definitely be back when back in the area. read more

We stopped for brunch, we tried the Denver omelette with house potatoes, and the cinammon waffles, which were both underwhelming the Denver and potatoes were bland, the waffles tasted good however were unfortunately a bit hard, which was odd. However we also tried the chili verde omelette which was very tasty! We went on a busy day however were able to be seated fairly quickly and got our food quickly too. Overall I'd say we were a little underwhelmed other than the chili verde omelette! read more

CJ's Cafe - American Near Me - Arroyo Grande, California

We had brunch here on a Friday morning for the first time. There were 8 of us so I was able to see many different dishes. The chili verde is what brought us to CJs and we weren't disappointed. I make chili verde from scratch and I approve! The flavors perfect, the pork nice and tender. I had the omelet, my husband the burrito. The home fries were good but could use a bit more flavor. The huevos rancheros were not great according to my sister in law. My son didn't even finish half of his roast beef dip. He didn't like it at all and felt the beef was rubbery. The other two dishes were the special, ham and cheese omelet and those were liked. The hash browns looked yummy. Oh and the refried beans excellent. I wonder if I could come pick up a quart of each for dinner one night. Hmmmmm read more

Well to start off i ordered the special of the day chicken and waffles , it came out 30ish minutes later and the "fried chicken" was ICE cold... Not to mention the chicken was precooked (as said by waitress). I let my waitress know my chicken was cold after I bit into it and she took it to the back. As it was brought back to me I noticed all they did was microwave the SAME piece that was sent to the back.. I got zero refills on my drink throughout my entire visit, and got no discount on my icey cold microwaved food. The best part is they included a gratuity tip of 18$ onto my bill...?! What am I tipping for? The service was not good, and the food definitely was not. Probably one of the worst food experience. This was ridiculous, Ive been here a few times but this was the most disappointing. Never will i come back again after the experience I've had today. read more

Always good, always fast and always consistent. A good place to go if you want a "diner" experience.

Food and service always great. Busy most of the time but they get you in fairly quickly.

Went in for breakfast. . Ordered a ham and cheese omelette. The omelette was flat as a pancake and greasy. I ordered my hash browns well done and they were like eating mashed potatoes. The sourdough toast was good (which is all I ended up eating). The service was great and everyone was nice. But I need the food to be as good as the nice staff so I won't be back. Thank you. read more

I don't know if someone quit or got fired but this is the fourth time my meal has been barely OK. Maybe the boss is on vacation. There are several old style diner comfort food type places but for us this has been our favorite for decades. THE local gathering place. Today we decided to switch to Francisco's. I am not standing in that line again for $25 eggs with a starch and another starch with slightly warmed, greasy starch on the side. That is Pismo (with view) pricing! They need to change the "fruit bowl" to cantaloupe bowl as in a full year I have not seen anything but cantaloupe. As usual our waitress was wonderful. read more

I absolutely love their food and their service. Everything is incredibly good. They have a early bird special if you get there before 5 PM and those are absolutely wonderful. Also, there's a menu just for that, it comes with dessert and is excellent. read more

Ordered a medium rare steak. It came well done with about half fat. Bad steak. Asked for another one and big cook came out and said they wouldn't make another one. Pretty bad service. Find a better place. read more

The service was good. The food was okay. The fruit cup had fresh fruit, mostly melon. It wasn't that fresh. Omelet was good. Blueberry pancake was chewy, and there was an upcharge to substitute it for the bread, muffin choice. Prices are reasonable. read more

Not really good or bad, just meh. It looks amazing! I'm very used to veggie omelets and typically love the taste of fresh vegetables and crispy eggs, but this had absolutely no flavor to it at all. Even some salt and pepper in it would've been nice... My boyfriend got the rellano and he said the exact same thing: no flavor. The service was great! Many people asked if I wanted a refill on coffee but almost to the point of too much? I would put it down from my first sip and had someone else come up to me and asked to refill it. However... the muffin! Wow!! It came a bit later so it's not pictured, but the banana nut muffin was very nice and warm. That's a winner. read more

CJ's Cafe - Rellano, veggie omelet - American Near Me - Arroyo Grande, California

Large portions, friendly service, great food! Highly recommend the home fried potatoes and cjs french toast. read more

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I love CJ's. I have dinner there at least once a month. Their Tuna Supreme Salad is so good, as is their chicken tortilla soup. The group I go with usually has fried chicken, wraps, spaghetti, and chicken fried steak. I eat breakfast there quarterly- everything is good. Especially their breakfast burritos and chile verde omelettes. Their menu selection is extensive. Their wait-staff is quick moving, professional, and helpful. Eat at CJ's! read more

Really good food and the best service Ever I would recommend to go there read more

I will give them a A plus for breakfast! I love their Huevos Rancheros. It is not a fancy place but good down home food. Service at the table has always been great. The only downside is when you first walk in it all seems a little hectic and they are not very welcoming. But they make up for it at the table ! read more

Good cafe fare! Large menu choices available. Breakfast, lunch and dinner is served. They have a senior menu for Mom and Dad too.

We waited 40 minutes to order. I ordered a char broiled chicken sandwich on sourdough and didn't get it. It came on a bun and was so tough you couldn't eat it. My niece ordered fish and chips that was soggy. To bad I won't be back read more

Nice clean place, pleasant people and good food. I can only say the coffee at almost $4 a cup seems a bit high.

At first glance, the looked busy, but they always are. I made my way to the counter, I was the only one at the country. I looked around, saw food sitting under the warming lights, the salad prep area was very dirty and needed to be cleaned up. Absolutely no acknowledgment from the wait staff, we go there a lot, and tip very well. Waited over 20 minutes for some kind of acknowledgment, but it wasn't going to happen, so I decided to leave and go elsewhere. When I was leaving I mentioned to the waiter I was leaving, and he replied " What ever ", we all know what that mean, he did by the way have s nice collection of tattoos and black nail polish. Oh, the food under the warming lights was still sitting there. Went on to Hawaiian BBQ, great food, and great service. read more